Delightful Dancing in the Daylight (NUTMEG)

[Erik Carriere]

Erik stood by one of the large windows with late morning sun pouring in. He had worked on the Opera house a little bit this morning, not having done much with it yet. Mostly it was just dusting of some of the seats, sweeping the ground a bit, nothing major. And then he had worked a bit with the ballroom, playing the piano some and cleaning it off, sweeping up quite a bit of the floor.

And even after all that work it was only late morning. Oh well, that just meant there was still plenty to do. It was so strange to think... he had been here for nearly a year. Not that he quite knew when he came but he had an idea and was able to ask around. He had found that major events had become much more common but when it became difficult to run into people... it was... well, boring. Before he came here, he didn't quite know what it felt like to be bored.

Except for the days the opera wasn't preforming anything that night or when he got sick. But now it was the lack of people. Erik then chuckled to himself, he had been practically alone for his whole life and now he actually isn't happy to see anyone. Perhaps if he had been born normal, he would have found that he was actually a people person. When he walked through the village, which was a rarity, he found himself thirsty for conversation. Erik began to hum a random little tune to himself as he felt the sun lightly heating his mask and face. Life was alright.

[Meg "Oh! La La" Giry]

There were many things Meg missed about her former life before coming to the manor. Dancing was one of them. Whether it was ballet or the vaudeville stuff she'd danced for Coney Island audiences, she would dance until her feet bled if she could. It was such an exhilarating feeling, contorting her body in ways normal people couldn't, wearing flashy costumes that wowed the crowd, smiling as she twirled and spun over peoples heads... And she sure did miss the music that went with it!

She was a bit bored in this place... She had no real friends anymore, and she realized she dreadfully missed her roomate Peggy back at home. Her mother was also missing from her life... Sometimes it was a good thing, because her schedule wasn't being controlled by her. She didn't have to stick to such rigor that her mother required of her, but she still loved the elder Giry. Meg missed having those comforting arms when things went wrong, and so far in this new life of hers nothing was really going right.

Most of all, however, she missed Mister Y. She knew he was somewhere around the manor, after meeting with him on Christmas Eve, but she hadn't been in his presence since. She was a bit afraid to confront him about where he'd been... Would she seem too impertinent? He was short with her when they talked previously. He was probably thinking only of Christine, and that boy of his. If there was anything that would surely seal the deal, and keep Erik from her forever, it was little Gustave.

Of all the things she missed, the only one she could do anything about was the dancing. So, upon examining her options, she decided that she ought to practice, to keep herself in shape. She considered going to the opera house that she'd found Lenoir in, but the stage was so dilapidated that she might just fall through the floorboards if she did anything rigorous on it! Then she remembered the ballroom. It was certainly a good place to stretch her legs, since there was plenty of space!

Meg dug through her closet for a pair of ballet shoes, but she could only find regular dance shoes, the kind she'd worn at Coney. She sighed, resigning herself to vaudeville for the day. About a week ago she'd wished she could have her own clothes back, her favorite rehearsal outfits and her scarves and her costumes, and suddenly the manor had provided them for her. They'd appeared in her closet along side the clothes she'd found there to begin with, and the clothes she'd bought in town. It was fun to shop when there was so much cash lying about your room! She'd have to buy a pair of ballet shoes next time she went out...

A quick check in the mirror, and Meg found herself happy with her appearance. She wore a typical dark blue corset she would wear when practicing her routines, fishnet stockings, her dance shoes, and a short bustle skirt that accentuated her backside. She pinned her hair up in a messy bun that would do for practicing, and for an accessory, she wrapped a black ribbon around her neck for a choker. To make herself more modest as she walked down the hallways toward the ballroom, she slipped on a blue Chinese robe and tight it tightly around her waist.

Now that she was ready, Meg grabbed the music player she'd steadily become obsessed with and a CD from her new collection. It was an album with music she could easily practice to, a couple of the numbers having a similar rhythm and beat to routines she'd done in the past. She took these and made her way to the ballroom.

Usually, this room was deserted, which is what she'd been expecting. However, when she walked in, she heard a very light, gentle humming noise. She jumped a little when she saw a masked man, especially since it wasn't Mister Y. "Pardon me, this place is usually empty..." She blushed. Over the year she'd been at the manor, she'd forgotten how to ignore men who stared at her because of the way she looked, and her costumes. She pulled her robe tighter. "I'll just leave then..."

((OOC: Meg is wearing this, this, and this. Can't you just imagine Pookey's face if she took off the robe? xD))

[Erik Carriere]

Erik was suddenly surprised from a voice from behind him a ways away and he turned to see a blonde lady in a blue oriental robe. He actually hadn't really noticed her wardrobe at all and instead begged her forgiveness. "I apologize, I hadn't known that there would be anyone coming in to use the room today." He said with nothing but a gentlemen posture and genuine feeling in his eyes.

She then tired to excuse herself from the room and he felt that he had disrupted her routine which he was not just about to allow. "No, please, stay. I was just done with a bit of tidying in the room anyways." He then began to leave so that the lady could go about her business but then paused, suddenly having an odd feeling. "Might you know Erik Lenoir? He is a friend of mine who is working on a project, renovating the Opera House that is. I am Erik Carriere. Might you be Meg?" He asked with a slight tone of curiosity as well as the same warmth to the new aquatints.

[Meg "Oh! La La" Giry]

Meg shifted the music player so that both hands held it. She leaned against the now closed door to the ballroom. "I didn't exactly give two weeks notice. Just came here on a whimsy, you know." This man seemed intriguing, but then all men in masks had that affect on her. They all reminded her of Mister Y...

She stepped a bit closer, suddenly sad that he might leave. She did like an audience when she danced, however she'd been so out of practice she might be a bit embarrassed if he watched. So perhaps it was for the best.

The man in the mask stopped her, however, when he mentioned Lenoir. She looked at him, her eyebrow raising in a bit of contempt, and her lip quirked into a smirk of the annoyed kind. "Yes, I know Lenoir. We aren't exactly on the best of terms, but then again I haven't seen him since the Christmas party."

Miss Giry resumed her smiling face when he introduced himself. "Hey, I do know you! I saw you at the party, but I don't know if you saw me." She stepped forward a bit, and put on her sociable and friendly persona. "Meg Giry is the name, don't wear it out!" She laughed, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Sorry if I seem a bit preoccupied, it's just I'm dying to dance!"

[Erik Carriere]

"No worries." He said, shaking her hand and chuckling a bit at what he saw as outgoing-ness. Now that he thought about it... yes... he did remember catching a glimpse of her every now and again. And if his feelings were correct, this was the Meg that would be helping with the advertising and such when Lenoir and he finished renovation the opera house.

"Oh please, do not let me be in the way of your dancing. Also, I heard that you would be helping Lenoir and I with getting the word out to others about the opera house once we fix it up." He said, interested if this indeed was that Meg. And if it was, and if what Lenoir said about her style being 'interesting' was true, he actually wondered what her style was. If he remembered what Lenoir said correctly, then it would be something he had never seen before as Lenoir stressed it was nothing like the ballet she use to dance and the style was quite different than they would have imagined before.

[Meg "Oh! La La" Giry]

As he spoke Meg walked her way over to an outlet on their side of the room and plugged in her music player. She fiddled with it until it came to the song she wanted, and she turned it up. "Yeah, yeah, anything for the opera house..." she said and waved her hand flippantly. She didn't mention Lenoir. Just thinking about it was starting to make her blood boil, so she sashayed her hips as the music started.

"Sorry if I'm not properly dressed for ya, didn't know I'd have an audience." She giggled and winked. Oh, it was no harm flirting with him. He seemed like a nicer masked man, and his voice was like honey. Maybe it was luck that she didn't have any ballet shoes today...

She flung her robe to the wall and walked to the center of the floor as the main music started. She began her routine after counting off a "five, six, seven, eight!", winking at him as she did a twirl. If he was anything like Lenoir then he wouldn't find her routine so interesting. But she wasn't so sure he was...

[Erik Carriere]

Erik turned his head slightly, looking a bit inquisitive, and even more so when the music came on and wasn't exactly like anything he had ever heard before. He watched as she swayed, and tried to look professional but had no idea what he was about to witness, besides it being called dancing, and from what Lenoir told him- he was almost even more cautious.

She then apologized for her clothing, not knowing she would have an audience then winked at him. He wasn't quite sure how to respond so he just nodded a bit and smiled kindly. Well, he certainly hadn't been around anyone like Meg... well the closest thing that he had were the ballet dancers of his opera house... but it was always towards the Vicomte if anyone. He watched her dance.... it was very.... unique. There were two very loud thoughts in his head. One- What on earth am I watching and should I even be watching? Two- Its rather interesting... for whatever it is.

[Meg "Oh! La La" Giry]

As the music played, Meg spun, kicked, twisted, snapped her fingers, jazz-squared, popped, and sang her little heart out. Her routine was innocent... enough. At least for this fellow, since she only reserved the more outrageous numbers for the most outrageous venues. She was precise in her movements, never faltering and always smiling.

By the time she was through she'd barely broken a sweat, thanks to years of practicing every single day until dancing was like walking. This was what she had to live for now. She would always be able to dance, God willing she didn't break either leg. Even though her heart might be broken on occasion, dancing would always be her support.

At the end of her dance she gave a graceful curtsy in Erik's direction. However, the disc didn't stop playing, and immediately changed to a much louder song that she certainly didn't have any choreography to. She rushed to the player and started fiddling with it, eventually getting frustrated and unplugging the thing altogether.

Meg laughed uneasily. "Sorry about that, sweetie. All this technology takes some getting used too." She stood, flinging her strands of hair over her shoulder and joining him again. "What'd ya think?" She rather hoped he'd liked it, but then she never knew what people really thought about her.

[Erik Carriere]

Meg was a very good dancer, she knew what she was doing and it was obvious that she had training and practice. Erik didn't exactly know how to observe the dance, since he only knew how ballet looked- which he could see very very light in her dancing- but anything else he would have no idea which is applauded and which is not.

He chuckled very quietly for a moment when a much louder song came on and Meg fiddled with it then finally just pulled the plug on it. Erik waved his hand slightly while smiling when she apologized. "At least your brave enough to mess with it at all, I have yet to investigate into all of the new things of this... year. Besides the lights of course." He laughed slightly. Well.... he had fiddled around with the stove and microwave some, it made it easier to cook my a long shot.... though his first few attempts at using them were not quite fun.

She then asked him what he thought of it. He paused for a moment to ponder on it then started with a pleasant but truth-ridden voice. "For me, I think it was quite interesting. Unfortunately, I cannot truly judge it since I have never seen anything like it - I hope you understand. However, I do think that you dance very well and its nice to see such confidence." He said, smiling some. Erik was trying his best to not sound ignorant or rude. He couldn't help but think of what Lenoir said.... he was very right on saying that the dance was very different. But truth be told.... he didn't see any reason why she shouldn't be given the chance to go on stage.